OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill focused on nullifying “Obamacare” was approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives today by a vote of 72-20.

Rep. Mike Ritze

State Rep. Mike Ritze, a board-certified family practice physician and surgeon – the author of the legislation – filed House Bill 1021 to nullify the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare,” in Oklahoma.

Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, said the measure protects Oklahomans against an unconstitutional federal overreach in power and control over their daily lives.

“There is no provision in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution where the states delegated to Congress the authority to make a citizen purchase health care or pay a fine,” Ritze said. “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an example of federal overreach and my legislation will authorize the state via the will of the People to ignore it and ban the enforcement of it.”

Proponents of “Obamacare” argue that Article VI of the Constitution makes the legislation the “supreme law of the land.” Ritze strongly disagrees with that belief.

“They fail to understand how the country is supposed to operate,” Ritze said. “As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 33: ‘It expressly confines this supremacy to laws made pursuant to the Constitution.’ Alexander Hamilton got it right. Congress and the Supreme Court got it wrong.

“When the federal government exceeds its delegated authority, as it has done with the passage of Obamacare, it is the duty of every state representative to defend the unalienable rights of the people of the great State of Oklahoma. I and others in the House and Senate intend to do just that with this legislation.”

Today an Oklahoma Lawmaker, since Colorado is enacting stricter gun control measures, has sent a letter to the president of a Colorado-based manufacture of magazines and other gun accessories urging the company to relocate to Oklahoma.

Richard Fitzpatrick, the president of MagPul, warned Colorado lawmakers that he would leave the state if they enacted gun control. Colorado went through with new gun control measures and MagPul announced they would soon leave that state.

“We would gladly accept MagPul here in Oklahoma,” said Ritze, R-Broken Arrow. “America is under attack by anti-gun activists who have no respect for our nation’s inherent 2nd Amendment rights. This lack of respect penalizes law-abiding citizens as well as good companies like this one. We support MagPul in its efforts to move to a state that is friendlier to do business in and we hope they will move their operations to Oklahoma.”

Currently based in Boulder, Colo., MagPul has produced high-capacity gun magazines and firearms accessories since 1999. Founded in the basement of former Marine Corps. Sergeant Richard Fitzpatrick, he issued an ultimatum to Colorado political leadership that he would move his company if they passed gun control measures such as House Bill 1224. That measure recently passed the Colorado state House and now is awaiting consideration in the state Senate.

Sen. Nathan Dahm has filed three proposals to protect the Second Amendment rights of Oklahomans to keep and bear arms. Dahm said the Constitution provides clear protections to gun owners, but if lawmakers are not diligent, those protections can easily come under attack by proponents of big government.

“Oklahomans understand that the right to keep and bear arms is intrinsic to our cultural identity,” said Dahm, R-Broken Arrow. “Our nation’s founders intended the Second Amendment to protect the right of individuals to own guns, and it is critical for lawmakers to be diligent in our protection of that right. This legislation furthers our efforts to protect Oklahomans from federal overreach.”

Dahm has filed Senate Bill 548, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, legislation that will protect the right of Oklahomans to keep and bear arms by opposing all unconstitutional laws, orders, or regulations imposed by the federal government that violate the individual right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed in the Second Amendment.

Also filed by Dahm, Senate Bill 401 states that licensed gun owners who have not been convicted of a felony will not be charged with a felony for possessing a weapon in a Gun-Free School Zone. The measure will close a loophole created by federal law, and protect law-abiding Oklahomans from wrongfully being charged with a felony.

Senate Bill 552 will allow any Oklahoman 21 years of age or older, and who is not a convicted felon, to keep a pistol in their vehicle for the purpose of self-defense.

“When we were sworn in, we took an oath to support and uphold the Constitution, and I intend to do just that,” Dahm said. “A broad majority of Oklahomans oppose gun restrictions, and expect their elected officials to defend their Second Amendment rights. With federal authorities currently considering gun restrictions, we must be diligent.”

Sen. Nathan Dahm and Rep. Mike Ritze plan to ensure the Legislature stands up for the rights of Oklahomans and remains committed to preventing the provisions of Obamacare from taking effect.

Dahm and Ritze have filed Senate Bill 203 and House Bill 1021, proposals which will nullify the provisions of Obamacare in Oklahoma. Dahm said health care operates best as an enterprise, not as a birthright.

“Depriving citizens of the right to make their own choices about health care runs contrary to American ideals,” said Dahm, R-Broken Arrow. “If we want a health care system that is innovative, efficient, and controls costs, we need to allow the free market to work. Health care is not a right, it is an enterprise, and it works best with fewer market distortions and the incentive to improve the services it offers customers.”

“Taking this enterprise and turning it into a government bureaucracy will remove the incentive for advancements in American health care, just as it has everywhere else this experiment has been tried.”

Ritze said the federal health care law is unwelcome in Oklahoma.

“Oklahomans have clearly indicated that they would prefer a different approach to health care than the federal law offers,” Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, said. “I think we have the tools to improve the health care system in Oklahoma without involvement from the federal government.”